搬 (bān) · to move (objects from one place to another)

Meanings

1 to move (objects from one place to another)
2 to relocate; to move (house)

Characters

搬

bān

move; carry; transport

Contains 扌 (hand radical) - moving things by hand.

Examples

HSK 1

他搬到北京去了。

Tā bān dào Běijīng qù le.

He moved to Beijing.

HSK 3

帮我搬一下这个箱子。

Bāng wǒ bān yíxià zhège xiāngzi.

Help me move this box.

HSK 4

这张桌子太重了，搬不动。

Zhè zhāng zhuōzi tài zhòng le, bān bù dòng.

This table is too heavy, I can't move it.

Tips

grammar

搬 + result complement: 搬走 (move away), 搬来 (move here), 搬进 (move in), 搬出 (move out), 搬不动 (can't move it).

Components

radical

扌 shǒu

hand (radical form of 手)

Left-side hand radical - the indexing radical, side-form of 手. Names the action: hands physically moving heavy things. Same family of carrying/lifting verbs: 抬 (lift), 扛 (shoulder), 搁 (place), 拿 (take), 提 (carry by handle), 扔 (throw).

phonetic

般 bān

kind; sort; like

Right-side 般 supplies the sound bān with no tone shift. 般 itself shows 舟 (boat) + 殳 (pole/oar) - a person poling a boat, originally meaning 'to convey by boat'. The boat-conveying sense is faintly relevant to 搬's 'transport, move' meaning. Same phonetic family: 班 (class/team), 斑 (spotted).